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This richly illustrated book to accompany the PBS science documentary Intimate Strangers: Unseen Life on Earth combines vivid, descriptive images from the series and original artwork with the compelling story of the world of microbes and their role in the Earth’s ecosystem.

The authors have built upon the series content to offer a more comprehensive view of our relationship with the planet’s tiniest inhabitants. Targeted to a general audience, the book’s lively style will engage parents and their children, and teachers and their students, along with other members of the scientifically interested public, putting the vitally important role of the microbial world into stories and terms familiar to the reader.

Key Features

Approachable book for the scientist and non-scientist alike

Lavishly illustrated with over 300 descriptive images and original drawings

Text and illustrations effectively integrated to enrich the reader’s understanding

Comprehensive overview of microbial life, from their initial role as Earth’s first inhabitants to their future as our partners in the Age of Biology

Contents

Prologue: “The World That Came in the Mail”

Section 1. Keepers of the Biosphere

Cycling Through the Biosphere

Into the Rainforest

Oceans of Microbes

Life in the Deep Sea

The Sum of the Parts

Section 2. Tree of Life

Shaking the Tree

Placing the Microbial Branches on the Tree

Our Branch of the Tree

Evolution on Fast Forward

Forward to the Past

Section 3. Dangerous Friends and Friendly Enemies

Living in a Microbial World

When Friends Turn Against Us

Familiar Enemies

The Most Lethal of Strangers

Protecting Our Territory

Our Battle to Control Infectious Diseases

Our Evolutionary Dance with the Microbes

Section 4. Creators of the Future

Combating Antibiotic Resistance

Cleaning House

Feeding the World

A Walk on the Dark Side of Microbes and Humans

Afterword: “Small Things Considered”

Intimate Strangers: Unseen Life on Earth by Cynthia A. Needham, Ph.D., Mahlon Hoaglan, Ph.D., Bert Dodson, and Kenneth McPherson is available for $39.95. You can order online through Amazon.com, Barnes&Nobles.com or the ASM Press online bookstore. To order by phone, call 1-800-546-2416 (U.S. and Canada) or 1-703-661-1593 (all other countries).